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I was very lucky to get a bargain 27 sentier ht in Jan and its had a fair few runs out round trail centre and natural terrain, but it bugs me a bit.
It's a lot shorter than my old genesis high latitude (expected) but the reach seems real short. Despite a slacker HA, I feel you don't get the benifit because the bikes not long enough. Also its a pig to climb slightly technical climbs because you can't get your weight far forward enough in the saddle and you don't want to be out of the saddle for long periods or you burn out.
The million dollar question is, do you persist and adjust your style to the new frame youre not sure on, or say you've do e a few trips and it's not for you and swap it out.
(Note- I really wanted a whye 901 but the crc firesale happened on the same week so I couldn't not try it. I'd deffo keep the build kit as its great, but I can still take a punt on a frame and have a bargain bike.....and the bird zero AM has caught my eye).
I think you want us to tell you what you really want to do. Change the frame.
You've tried it, it's not worked, cut your loses and get what you really want.
As a serial bike changer myself, i tend to give it a couple of months, a decent few rides to see if its new bike syndrome (great the first couple of times, then a bit unfamiliar), or if its genuinely a dog i dont get on with.
Sounds to me like youve given it a bit of time and find it limiting. Move it on
At the price you paid I'd just by the Bird frame and transfer the parts across.
Son did similar with his after a year or so but to an Airdrop.
Personally I’ve had 2 frames that were terrible, in at least some respects, and were ridden for ever 20 years. But I think that in retrospect this may have been a mistake
Get it on eBay and get something else in a pretty colour.
What size is it, if large give me a message
Haaa cheers all. it may sound like I wanted everyone to tell me to buy it, but I think I wanted to get thoughts on if I'm jumping the gun a bit early. Then again it's all just part of the fun isn't it..
do you persist and adjust your style to the new frame youre not sure on, or say you’ve do e a few trips and it’s not for you and swap it out.
Assuming you've had a reasonable go at fettling and tweaking a bit then I'd say get rid. I wasn't getting on with my Ribble CGR 725 and ended up swapping it out after different stems, saddles, bike fit etc. In retrospect I should have done it much sooner - I spent a lot of time and money trying to make it work for me that could have gone on just having better rides on something else.
I got sentier 27 full bike in sale and hop between it and genesis longitude- vitus feels tiny for about 10 minutes then don't notice.
If its bugging you keep the kit and buy new frame - you've saved a fortune on kit and can recoup some selling the frame.
If you're not enjoying it no point persevering just for sake of it. I intended sell frame and put kit on my genesis, but quite like the vitus so have both still 🤷
Get some demo rides in on other bikes ASAP to get the fit spot on, then buy frame only… but don’t spend the money without first doing all the stem/seatpost shifting you can to make sure your current frame can’t be made to fit (sounds to me like you may be past that already).
You mountain bike for enjoyment, and if you don't enjoy the bike as much as your old one then it's time to get rid and buy something that is more suitable.
Does psychology play some part in this? If you had spent a lot of money on a bike, and it was something you really wanted, are you more willing to put up with its faults? Where's if it's cheap, you're more likely to just move onto the next thing?
I'm lucky in that I've a few different bikes that are all very different, so they're better at specific things. So I can ride something else if one bike is annoying me for some reason (like me with my Hello Dave last week, it felt heavy and unresponsive, but I know it'll be perfect when I ride gnarlier trails).
Life is too short, and if you dont have the space or funds for several bikes then make sure you have the bike you really want.
I had a specialized enduro Evo that felt like that, far too short and nervous on technical features despite being slack angled. Sold it to a mate after about 6 months because life is too short.
Does psychology play some part in this? If you had spent a lot of money on a bike, and it was something you really wanted, are you more willing to put up with its faults
Maybe so. I dare say people still start thinking of the next thing. Marketing / consumer culture is hard to shake off I guess.
Given it was such an absolute bargain I think you need to celebrate that fact by treating yourself to a new frame to hang all the parts on. I mean, technically you're still in the black*
* This is obviously not neccessarily an opinion that will be shared by spouses/partners when another big package turns up 😉
If you’ve ridden it quite a few times and tries playing with saddle position/ stem length and height and it’s just not doing it for you then move the parts over to a longer reach frame. Vs seat tube length the 27.5 Sentiers are a little short in the reach - especially if you’ve ridden a more modern frame.
Bird AM is a good option Tbf.
Same happened to me with a bargain Whippet. It was okay but just not quite right so I sold it on. Easier to do with a cheap bike because the financial loss is lower and in your case pretty much zero so I'd go for it myself.
Don't know if it's a CRC/Wiggle thing but both my Ragley Trig and a pal's Vitus gravel bike somehow felt smaller than the numbers suggested?
I was going to swap the parts off my Sentier onto a “nicer” frame. The non boost rear hub, scuppered my options so didn’t bother. Glad I didn’t now as I really like it.
Those NS Bikes Eccentric steel frames Crc were knocking out would have been a good option
If you're not convinced - get rid.
The only frame I wasn't convinced by was a cross/ gravel bike.
I kept it for a year before selling and replacing it with an mtb
Last bike that was a bit short for me I tried to work round. Set back post, longer stem, but in the end it threw me over the bars and broke my collarbone. Don’t wait that long.
48 hours.
That long 😉
I managed about seven years with my previous hardtail! (But it was great when I was riding well, just such a punishing handful when I wasn’t…)
Get shot ASAP. Once that feeling that it’s not right has set in you’re doomed if you persist. I’ve had it with bikes in the past but it relates to everything, even relationships.
Get the thing you wanted and know was right in the first place.
A week or 2 rides. Bought an Ibis Mojo HD4 as soon as they landed in the UK, all the reviews said was "LONG", you don't need to size up, buy the recommend size. I bought a medium and it was short AF. I sold it after 2 rides and bought a Nomad V4 in large and that was perfect.
I persisted with my T129 for a couple of years, sometimes it felt good, but others I didn't quite gel with it. Never felt like my bike.
Current bikes (AM9 and a Scout) have felt nothing but great from the first ride.
Couple of months.
Lucky that i've only had 2 that i didn't get on with over my 30+ years of cycling (where i've been paying for my own kit, had a few that a well meaning parent bought for me to grow into. The last one, i still wouldn't be tall enough to ride now...)
One i demoted from all round training/wet weather bike to "ride to work and the shops, who cares if it gets nicked" it eventually went to a mate to do the same job when i emigrated. I still use the bike i replaced it with ~20 years later. (A kinesis tK).
The other was a Specialized Enduro. Horrific piece of crap, rode it about a dozen times, put it in the attic for 6 months, did a new build with better kit, new shock, new forks, same story but less rides, put it back in the attic for 18 months until someone one here was looking for a frame in the same size and colour that i had. Met up somewhere near Birmingham, sold it for *slightly* more than i'd paid for it.
Haven't had anything else that doesn't work for me.
life is too short
👆🏻This👆🏻
I owned a Santa Cruz Heckler once for a single ride. Came from a Chameleon and thought it'd be ace but it just felt as if the Chameleon had snapped somewhere on the rear end. Worst bike I've ever owned. Sold it straight away...
It depends. I'm a data geek and world-class procrastinator so by the time I actually buy a bike/frame I have a very good idea what to expect. Nothing compares to feedback from actually riding though, and that can take me quite a few rides to know for sure, i.e. waiting until after the honeymoon period.
I've rarely test-ridden potential purchases as I don't think I'd learn enough from a few hours (or even a couple of big rides over a weekend) to know for definite if a bike's for me. I mostly buy secondhand though so it's a less expensive 'mistake' to make.
I'm currently in honeymoon period with new trail FSer: I definitely like it and it's more capable all-round, only niggling doubt is it's closer in purpose to my 'big' FSer and further away from the bike it's replacing. I've kept hold of my old trail FSer until I know for sure.